Abstract
The present paper examines the criteria for identifying students as mathematically gifted or exceptionally bright in a mathematical summer camp for advanced high-school students. We employ discourse analysis tools to analyze and classify instructors’ stories about students as told in private staff meetings. The findings show seven categories for evaluation criteria, some of which were purely social/affective, others mathematical. We use the explication of these criteria to examine a case of an exceptionally valued participant that expressed significant emotional distress during a mathematical argument with her instructor.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barab, S. A., & Hay, K. E. (2001). Doing science at the elbows of experts: Issues related to the science apprenticeship camp. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(1), 70–102.
Bishop, J. (2012). “She’s Always Been the Smart One. I’ve Always Been the Dumb One”: Identities in the mathematics classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 43(1), 34–74.
Boaler, J., & Greeno, J. G. (2000). Identity, agency, and knowing in mathematics worlds. In J. Boaler (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 171–200). Westport: Ablex Publishing.
Goffman, E. (1978). The presentation of self in everyday life. In Contemporary sociological theory. Harmondsworth: Anchor Books.
Gresalfi, M., Martin, T., Hand, V., & Greeno, J. (2009). Constructing competence: An analysis of student participation in the activity systems of mathematics classrooms. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 70(1), 49–70.
Hempel-Jorgensen, A. (2009). The construction of the “ideal pupil” and pupils’ perceptions of “misbehaviour” and discipline: Contrasting experiences from a low-socio-economic and a high-socio-economic primary school. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 30(4), 435–448.
Hess-Green, R., & Heyd-Metzuyanim, E. (2015). Emotional interactions of high achieving students in mathematical argumentation: The case of Jasmin. In Proceedings of the 9th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Prague, CZ.
Heyd-Metzuyanim, E. (2013). The co-construction of learning difficulties in mathematics—Teacher–student interactions and their role in the development of a disabled mathematical identity. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 83(3), 341–368.
Heyd-Metzuyanim, E., & Sfard, A. (2012). Identity struggles in the mathematics classroom: On learning mathematics as an interplay of mathematizing and identifying. International Journal of Educational Research, 51–52, 128–145.
Koichu, B., & Andzans, A. (2009). Mathematical creativity and giftedness in out-of school activities. In R. Leikin, A. Berman, & B. Koichu (Eds.), Creativity in mathematics and the education of gifted students (pp. 285–307). Rotterdam, NL: Sense Publishers.
Reis, S. M. (1995). Talent ignored, talent diverted: The cultural context underlying giftedness in females. Gifted Child Quarterly, 39(3), 162–170.
Richards, J., Encel, J., & Shute, R. (2003). The emotional and behavioral adjustment of intellectually gifted adolescents: A multi-dimensional, multi-informant approach. High Ability Studies, 14(2), 153–164.
Sfard, A., & Prusak, A. (2005). Telling identities: In search of an analytic tool for investigating learning as a culturally shaped activity. Educational Researcher, 34(4), 14–22.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wieschenberg, A. A. (1990). The birth of the Eotvos competition. College Mathematics Journal, 21(4), 286–293.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hess-Green, R., Heyd-Metzuyanim, E. (2017). Criteria for Identifying Students as Exceptional in a Mathematical Camp for “Gifted” Students. In: Andrà, C., Brunetto, D., Levenson, E., Liljedahl, P. (eds) Teaching and Learning in Maths Classrooms. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49232-2_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49232-2_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49231-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49232-2
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)